1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fabrication processes for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices and more specifically to the manufacture of interferometric modulators.
2. Description of the Related Art
An interferometric modulator is a class of MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) devices which have been described and documented in a variety of patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,835,255, 5,986,796, 6,040,937, 6,055,090, and U.S. Pending patent application Ser. Nos. 09/966,843, 09/974,544, 10/082,397, 10/084,893, and 10/878,282, herein incorporated by reference. One of the key attributes of these devices is the fact that they are fabricated monolithically using semiconductor-like fabrication processes. Specifically, these devices are manufactured in a sequence of, steps which combine film deposition, photolithography, and etching using a variety of techniques. More detail on these processes is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/074,562 filed on Feb. 12, 2002, and herein incorporated by reference.